Iran and Cuba Block UN Accreditation for NGOs Promoting Human Rights

A UN Committee charged with allowing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to gain greater access to the UN continued its bi-annual session on May 23, 2017 by blocking NGOs that promote human rights from gaining UN accreditation. Members of the UN NGO Committee include countries where NGOs do not have freedom of association, such as Iran and Cuba.

It was, therefore, no accident that Iran blocked accreditation for a British NGO called the International Organization to Preserve Human Rights Limited. According to the NGO's website, the organization conducts interviews, collects information, and reveals "information regarding the crimes committed by the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran" relating to "women's rights, rights of religious- and ethnic minorities and students." Iran blocked their application by asking what the reason was behind a recent name change; the mere question forces its application to be delayed at least another six months until the next session in January 2018.

Also blocked was the American Jewish World Service, which among its other areas of work, promotes civil and political rights to ensure government accountability. In a favorite tactic used by undemocratic states on the Committee against Jewish NGOs, Cuba blocked the application by asking a budgetary question. The question manufactured this time was how the NGO could carry out projects with a $3 million budget deficit. In fact, such a deficit amounts to less than 6% of the organization's more than $58 million in revenue, which happens to be less than that of Cuba's national deficit standing at over 8% of its national GDP.